Good morning friends,
I hope you are somewhere cool today and for the next few days as we experience all that a Perth summer can throw at us! Every day I am grateful for the things we didn’t have for the first few years after arriving in Australia: air-conditioned cars and houses, ceiling fans, insulation, solar panels- thanks be to God!
Last night we had a special meeting of Parish Council to discuss how we can best prepare for the arrival of Covid-19 in our communities. We approved the purchase and installation of live-streaming equipment which will enable people who need to be at home to watch worship services; please pray that this can be achieved by the time it is needed. If you are wondering why it seems to have taken a long while to get to this point, one reason is that the first quote we were given was for an extraordinary amount of money, but this provider is much more reasonable and knows what will work for us.
We are seeking guidance regarding issues like cleaning the church and hall in the event of infection outbreak; whether singing is safe, even when we are masked; and how we will manage it if the government mandates proof of vaccination as a condition of entry to places of worship. It hasn’t done that so far, and may not- but we can have a process ready if it does happen.
Meanwhile we can all work together to make our church as safe as it can be for people, bearing in mind that it’s impossible to make anywhere absolutely risk-free.
Here are some points to remember:
- Air circulation indoors is important, so we will have the air conditioners on in the church. On cooler days it can be just on fan; in hot weather like this we’ll be grateful for cooling! If you feel the cold and don’t like draughts please bring a jacket so you can be comfortable.
- If you feel at all unwell, please stay at home. This has been the health advice from the very beginning of the pandemic and it still applies.
- Make sure the masks you use fit well; you have previously received mask-wearing guidelines from me. We will keep a small number of masks at church if you should forget to bring yours, and will ask for a small donation to cover the cost.
- Keep on checking in and using hand sanitiser as before
We will shortly be circulating a new contact form that you can easily fill in online and we are asking everyone to complete it; this is so we can be certain we have up to date contact details for everyone who regularly comes to St Nic’s.
If you would like some help to set up the new ServiceWA app on your phone you can come along on Saturday at 2pm and we will do our best to talk you through the process. You will need to bring your ID with you, which could include: driver’s licence, Medicare Card, Passport, Australian Birth Certificate, Citizenship Certificate. I’d be glad if you’d let me know if you are planning to come.
The final Children’s Creative Play workshop will be on Friday between 1pm & 3pm: contact Nikki for details: nicolalandmark@outlook.com .
Lent will be upon us before we know it; I have ordered Lent Study books from ABM. They cost $10 each and I will shortly have a sign-up sheet for those who would like a book and those who would like to join a study group.
Here is the Collect Prayer of the Week:
Almighty God,
by whose grace alone we are accepted
and called to your service:
strengthen us by your Holy Spirit
and make us worthy of our calling;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen.
God bless,
Lorna
The Reverend Lorna A M Green
St Nicolas Anglican Church 